As used herein, the term “user equipment” or “UE” might refer to mobile devices such as mobile telephones, personal digital assistants, handheld or laptop computers, and similar devices that have telecommunications capabilities. Such a UE might consist of a device and its associated removable memory module, such as but not limited to a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) that includes a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) application, a Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) application, or a Removable User Identity Module (R-UIM) application. Alternatively, such a UE might consist of the device itself without such a module.
When a UE connects to a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), the PLMN typically provides network name information to the UE. The UE then typically displays on its display screen the name of the network to which it is connected. One way in which network name information can be provided to a UE is known as the Network Identity and Time Zone (NITZ) feature, in which the network sends the UE a text string coding the network name. The coding might be performed according to a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) default alphabet or an according to International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) Standard 10646, which specifies a universal character set (UCS).